Underreamer



UNDERREAMER Filed July 2.7S Q25 4 Sheets-She@ Aug.

Ez. H. M CCLEASE UNDERREMER Filed July, 27'; 192.3

UNDERREAMER Filed July 257/g 1 Sheets-Sheet 5 tit n; i1 liti rw xiii,

Application filed nl'y To @ZZ whom if 'moy concern:

Be it known that l., Erwin lil. lilo@ n citizen of tliellnitefl States, resitl= g o. Long Benali, in tlie County of Lis iingeles and State of Californie, lieve inventefl non and useful l'inprofenients in Unclerreznneis, of which tlie 'following' is :i specification,

lily inifeni'ion relates to Well trilling op piiriitns and more particularly to en enden roaming apparatus olf rotary type.

A purpose et my invention is the provision of on iincleireaining; apparatus Wliiffli is cletaelielily associated with tlie drill teli ing te permit oli' the apparatus being reiiilily inserted into oi. Witliflnwn from the drill tubing Wliile tlie letter reinziins viiitliin tlie Well, thereby eliminating tl'ie necessity el lifting the drill tubing" and tne attendent disadvantages.

llt is also e. purpose of my invention to provide on unclerreeniing apparatus which when in applied positionwitliin n specially Constructed drill tubing functions to entoinatieelly nieve tlie drill lait of the npparef tus from e oontriieted position -ivitliin tlie tubing to en expanded position in Wliicli the blades are projected from tlie tubing in drilline' engagement with the Wells enel bottom of the Well, end automatically controlled ineens for allowing tlie circulation of Water to tlie drill bits during operation of the latter, suoli ineens being operable upon the :apparatus settling' into operating position Within tlie tubing.

Further, my invention incl-nales i )flexible connection between p i'tions tiie apporti i in -tlie tus to compensate for irregularities construction of the drill tubingn Although l lieve/herein shown and will eseriiie only one forni' of nnclerreziining epperetns embodying my invention, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications maybe mede herein Without diepere ing from the spirit of tlie invention and the spirit and' scope et tlie appended claims.

ln the accompanyingdrawings, Fig. -l is a View showing in vertical section portion of the drill tubing having applied thereto one form of unilerreoining apparatus embodying my inventionu lo ig. 2 ,is e View siinilei` to Fie., l sl; ving the lowerinost portion of the flrill tubing;y such portion else embodying nin; invention and having applied thereto the iincleriemningepperotus shown in il,

Serial ille. 6o'

3 is e View eiini position ilie lille-fl iil'iivnrilly 'witixinA i,

.Fig el is in onlinn v' View of tlie levier 'portion o embodying my inwiention in :i Within e WellL Flex Vie

ry vertieel sectional View of tlie upper portion of tl/ie Fig; 13 is e. botto nien. View porotos sliown in Fig.

Similar reference olinrootoife elin-I ilar ports in ezieli et the several viene.

Referring' speeiiiciilly te tl'ie rowing/gs, and particularly to Figs. e, 3 :intl 7, tlie nnderreeining apparatus eniooilying ,my L "vention is shown as including tlie lower tion of e. i'lrill tubing' Wliieli connerie@ 'opper section l5, on' intermedie e tion and 2i lower .section l?, theinte'rniediniie seo tion being connected 'to tl e upper Senti :i Collar i8 zinil to lower threaded connect in l5?. 'lie one; ne l? ore eonetrneteil et their confronting enne to provide en annuler recess o? pool-etw in which is reinoi'fililj-,I liti-,eil o lien, no Sleeve 2l. The lower section i7 is piovoecl nfljeeent its lower end Witli rilie 22 arranged e dianietiiciilly opposed points on the inner Wall el the tubing und having at 'their ripper enils upwardly inclined projections 23. is clearly sliown in Figsu 7 :incl 18, the lower enel of tlie section li'` is formed. with slots 2e- Wliieli ziirniigecl eiilisten'tiiilly nt right' angles to tlie ii'ilis il".

Adaptef to loe contained Within 'tlie lill tubing to engebe the bearing sleeve if' e piston including' e hollenY loofly proviileil et its .lower end' i oncl et its npii'ier ond wit? eri-operate to maints-iin upon the periphery of rings ere maintain-edili e each other by spacing bands 80. The body is formed centrally thereof with a conduit or pipe 3l, the upper end of which projects above the'body and carries a valve seat 32. The lower end of the conduit 31 projects from the lower end of the body andv is connected to a similar conduit or pi )e 33 by a couplinr 33"'. As shown in Fig. `(,'th'e con`- duit' 1s adapted for connection at its lower end with a similar conduit 34, these conduits 83 and 34 being flexibly connected to each other by a flexible conduit 35 which may be in the form of a rubber hose suitably secured in embracing relation l-to the confronting ends of theconduits. cou-A pling' serves to connect the lower end of the conduit 34 with a conduit 3'?, the latter extending loosely through a supporting head 38 and carrying at'its lower end an expansion head 39. The er; iansion head 39, as shown in Figs. l and 2, 1s provided with inclined edges carryingrollers 40 which areadapted to zo-operate with similar edges,4l

of blades 42 ormoving the latter from the contracted position shown in Fig. l to the expanded position shown in Fig. 2. These blades 42 which constitute the bit of the.

underrealner 'are ro'vided with Shanks 43 pivotally mounts on bolts 4 4 (Fig. 12)

extendingithrough lflanges formed on thel supporting head 38.' l'nthe contracted position of the 'blades 42, they are disposed wholl move' to expanded position 'theyre-re extended throuffh the slots 24, as clearly shownV in Fig. .2. ,'he upper end walls of these slots are inclined', as indicated as 24u and v are adapted to' cri-operate with inclined edges 42a of the'blades 42 for returning' the blades to contracted positionwhen it is desired to remove the apparatus'from the drill tubing.

llhe lower end of the conduit 3?' is in cornmunication with a cavity 45 formed' in the expansion head 39 (Fig. 7) and this cavity provides, communication. between the donduit ,and ducts 46 which extend to the lower edges vof the head where they communicate with nozzles 4"?.

f. i "i" i Referring-again to big. 6, the upper end of the conduit 31 is adapted to be closed by a valvre 48 Secured to a plate 49 by meanso a screw 50.v An inverted conical shaped guide 5l depends from the valve 48 and serves to properly position the valve upon the seat 32. Secured to thepplate 49 is a y bail 52 which is movably connected to a y vide a yielding mounting for the valve 48.

yoke '53 through the medium of a bolt An expansible spring 55 surrounds the bolt 54 and is interposed between the yoke 53 and the bail 52 to normally urge the bail downwardly upon the bolt and 4to thereby pro- 56 is rigidlyl eouiuectefflv to the A stirru il of the body 25,'-and this stirruiupper en within the drill. tubing, but when` has its horizontal portion extended throiwh and loosely mounted in the yoke53. T el yoke 53 is rieidly connected, to a fish head 57l through a conventional connection 58, such bead being of conical form `and rovided with an annular flange 59 whici is adapted to be engaged by a fishing tool, as

indicated in liig. 3. A centering flange 60 conduits 33 and 34, and above these flanges the rods are slida'ble through' openings formed in the body 25, the lower openn 64 Vto prevent leakage of water through the B5 of which are provided with packing gla Y s body, as will-be understoodfAbove the.

body 25, the rods are formed with projections 65 upon which the plate 49 is adapted to normally rest. The rods are slidably extended through the plate 49 and throu h.

another plate 66 formed integraly with t e stirrup 56- so as to provide'a guide for the upper portions of the rods. l

The operation 'of the underreamngv a par ratus is as follows: l/Vith the drill tubing positionedlin the well, as shown in Fig. 4, yhe apparatus may now be forced downwardly through the drill tubing by pump- 'on the seat d2 so as to close the upper end` of the conduit 3l and thereby prevent the passage of 'water downwardly through the conduit. The valve 48' is maintained in closed position during the lowering' of the apparatus by virtue of the fact that the supporting head 38 gravitates intorthe low ermost positionl shown in Fig.' l, thereby pulling the rods 62 downwardly to cause the projectlensli to be likewise, lowered thereby permitting the spring 55 to move and maintain the valve 48 in closed position.

As the apparatus continues'to be pumped downwardly within the well tubing, it finally settles into operating position, asl shown in Fig. 2. Before reaching this operating position, the supporting;r head 38 `engages the upper ends 23 of the ribs 22 und thereby checks further downwardfmovc- .nient ofthe rods 62. But as the head 38 is l10( ing liquid downwardly into the tubing and' a valve for conmiiiifg the pesage of'liq a fish head operatively connected to said .)uid,into the uppei end of th conduit, rods valve and movabiy associated with said `:carried by the supporting hed having proyoke. 10 'ectons engageable the valve for mov- In testimony whereof I have signed my lng the latter to op i position and pername to this specification.

mitting the valyeig'; mmf'e to closed position, a yoke connecfzer ico the piston, and r ERVIN II-MCCLEASE 

